The f1 quitting was obviously a PR move at the time, to grab some headlines after all the job cuts. Especially as they continued to fund Brawn in 2009.

They have? They haven't even supplied the engine.

Also, I don't think it was a PR move, it was a bad time for economy in general and Honda was pumping hundreds of millions of dollar in it's F1 Team without a success that could justify that. 2007 and 2008 were disastrous years, they were being close to being challenged by their B team, Super Aguri. And then their next 'take me for $1 with the team' car blew the entire grid away.

was honda's withdrawal from F1 the worst timed decision in corporate sport history? i know it's easy to say in hindsight. i wonder if brawn tried to or was able to explain the double diffuser possibilities to them beforehand.

was honda's withdrawal from F1 the worst timed decision in corporate sport history? i know it's easy to say in hindsight. i wonder if brawn tried to or was able to explain the double diffuser possibilities to them beforehand.

I'm sure he tried. I remember him saying 'we have an race winning car' in the winter season, when the car wasn't even run yet. At the time I read that as "hey sponsors, buy that team" phrase and nothing else, but in hindsight he definitely knew they were up to something special with (was was later known to be) BGP 001.

was honda's withdrawal from F1 the worst timed decision in corporate sport history? i know it's easy to say in hindsight. i wonder if brawn tried to or was able to explain the double diffuser possibilities to them beforehand.

who thinks the 2009 brawn honda would be slower than the actual 2009 brawn mercedes? as far as i recall the 2000 to 2009 honda engines were never among the the best. if anything they were at the bottom of the food chain.

who thinks the 2009 brawn honda would be slower than the actual 2009 brawn mercedes? as far as i recall the 2000 to 2009 honda engines were never among the the best. if anything they were at the bottom of the food chain.

Honda produced some great engines for 2000-2005 seasons as a V10. I think when they switched to V8, they declined a bit.

who thinks the 2009 brawn honda would be slower than the actual 2009 brawn mercedes? as far as i recall the 2000 to 2009 honda engines were never among the the best. if anything they were at the bottom of the food chain.

at the beginning of the season their aero advantage was far to big, I think they could dominate with a weaker engine, also, they would have more money to develop the car during the season, so I think Honda would have won the 2009 title.

Why are they thinking of F1 – haven’t they learned their lesson?
The WEC would be a far better series for them, up against their rival Toyota, as well as Audi, Porsche, etc It also offers a better technology showcase – rather than the ‘one size fits all’ F1 engine spec.

1964 to 1968 with some success. An abortive effort in 1999 that birthed a car, the RA099, but died with the tragic passing of Harvey Postlethwaite. And then its complete buyout of BAR in 2006 after a partial buyout in 2004.

5 years and then 3 years as a constructor. Not long to be honest.

I think they will supply engines again, without entering the mire that is being a F1 constructor.

4.5th, if you count the hobby-project RC100/101 that some of Honda's engineers worked on after the company pulled out of F1 competition. It's a shame they didn't enter it as a one-off at the Japanese rounds, although I'm not sure what Bernie-F1 thought about wildcard competitors in those days.

who thinks the 2009 brawn honda would be slower than the actual 2009 brawn mercedes? as far as i recall the 2000 to 2009 honda engines were never among the the best. if anything they were at the bottom of the food chain.

Mark Hughes penned an interesting "what-if" column on this subject a couple of years ago. In his alternate history, which concluded with the Australian GP, Button finished third in the Honda RA109. Essentially the car was just as fast, if not faster than the Brawn BGP 001, with the extra testing and the optimised engine installation making up for the slight performance disadvantage of the Honda unit relative to the the Mercedes. However, since the car ran in the first pre-season test and was immediately as competitive as the Brawn in real life, albeit in the final test, rivals such as Red Bull were able to copy the double-diffuser concept in time for the first race, effectively ruling Honda out of the championship fight from the get-go. The conclusion was naturally that Brawn's late launch, necessitated by Honda's withdrawal, was in fact another significant positive factor in the "perfect storm" scenario which won the team both the championships.

P.S. I think Toyota was generally reckoned to have the weakest V8 engine.

I thought the story back then was that the Merc was so much better than the Honda, that Brackley back-calculated how much better they'd have done with the 2008 Honda with a Mercedes in the back. Ie making it to Q3.

There is space for another engine supplier and Honda is an engine company that makes things to put them in. Given their lack of road going turbo charged engines which are consuming the world (even Ford USA is running them fer god's sake), it may make sense engineering wise.

The 2.3 litre engine in the RDX/MDX is rightfully lambasted for it's atrocious fuel economy so they are some way behind.

There is space for another engine supplier and Honda is an engine company that makes things to put them in. Given their lack of road going turbo charged engines which are consuming the world (even Ford USA is running them fer god's sake), it may make sense engineering wise.

The 2.3 litre engine in the RDX/MDX is rightfully lambasted for it's atrocious fuel economy so they are some way behind.

Last weekend, a Civic with Honda's new turbine engine "HR412E" debuted in WTCC, Suzuka round.But it was 1.6l but an inline-4 engine, not V6.

Why are they thinking of F1 – haven’t they learned their lesson?The WEC would be a far better series for them, up against their rival Toyota, as well as Audi, Porsche, etc It also offers a better technology showcase – rather than the ‘one size fits all’ F1 engine spec.

Mark Hughes penned an interesting "what-if" column on this subject a couple of years ago. In his alternate history, which concluded with the Australian GP, Button finished third in the Honda RA109. Essentially the car was just as fast, if not faster than the Brawn BGP 001, with the extra testing and the optimised engine installation making up for the slight performance disadvantage of the Honda unit relative to the the Mercedes. However, since the car ran in the first pre-season test and was immediately as competitive as the Brawn in real life, albeit in the final test, rivals such as Red Bull were able to copy the double-diffuser concept in time for the first race, effectively ruling Honda out of the championship fight from the get-go. The conclusion was naturally that Brawn's late launch, necessitated by Honda's withdrawal, was in fact another significant positive factor in the "perfect storm" scenario which won the team both the championships.

Mark Hughes penned an interesting "what-if" column on this subject a couple of years ago. In his alternate history, which concluded with the Australian GP, Button finished third in the Honda RA109. Essentially the car was just as fast, if not faster than the Brawn BGP 001, with the extra testing and the optimised engine installation making up for the slight performance disadvantage of the Honda unit relative to the the Mercedes. However, since the car ran in the first pre-season test and was immediately as competitive as the Brawn in real life, albeit in the final test, rivals such as Red Bull were able to copy the double-diffuser concept in time for the first race, effectively ruling Honda out of the championship fight from the get-go. The conclusion was naturally that Brawn's late launch, necessitated by Honda's withdrawal, was in fact another significant positive factor in the "perfect storm" scenario which won the team both the championships.

P.S. I think Toyota was generally reckoned to have the weakest V8 engine.

Did he mention about Brawn's lack of funding and necessity to fire a lot of people? Without a doubt with Honda in the picture the team would have the money for the inseason development

Honda coming back would be great news. More engines = more competition, always a good thing. Plus, Williams have really benefitted from reuniting with Renault, I'm sure McLaren could do the same reuniting with Honda. In both cases they seem to be a natural fit with each other.

Honda coming back would be great news. More engines = more competition, always a good thing. Plus, Williams have really benefitted from reuniting with Renault, I'm sure McLaren could do the same reuniting with Honda. In both cases they seem to be a natural fit with each other.

Benefited? They already have the best car this season. You talk as they are suffering because of Mercedes engines